Heir Apparent
by indraaas
Summary: "I've lived a long life. Raised a couple brats into older, better brats. I got to love twice. Some people don't even get that once. If I could do this all over again in the exact same way, I'd do it in a heartbeat." - Because it's the duty of the father to ensure that his brats live on to see tomorrow, even if he doesn't.
**A/N:** This was originally for angst week, but I mean...I'm really late so there's no point. Oh well. I dunno how many of you follow me over on tumblr, but the papalogia AU has blown right the fuck up. Everybody enjoys their near daily dose of fluff and happy family shenanigans ft the Dragon Family, so I decided to break rhythm and attempt genuine angst.

So, that being said...character death ahead.

Three guesses as to who.

* * *

Acnologia knows, once Makarov grimly announces their role in the war against Alvarez, that his time has come to an end.

He doesn't feel scared, nor does he feel angry over his imminent death. He doesn't feel anything, really. He's almost numb to it all, watching his Guild prepare for war with fear and anxiety and bloodlust and a hundred other emotions he can't begin to name soaking the air and falling over him like a cloak. He walks around on autopilot, adjusting equipment holsters, drilling in attack formations, and making sure everybody knows exactly where they're supposed to be.

"Dad."

Of course it's Cobra that corners him. Acnologia grunts in acknowledgement, sheathing the sword he hasn't touched in more than a century. It had been a gift from Yuriy back when the Guild was being formed. He used it to survive a war back then, and he will use it to make sure his people survive the one being waged now.

"I can't hear you," he says calmly. "I know you can enforce a barrier to keep me out but you've never used it. Why now?"

"Do you trust me?" Cobra's eye widens marginally. "Yes."

Acnologia walks up to his second eldest and places his hands on his shoulders. In this moment, he can almost see the little boy he had saved from Brain over a decade ago. The same vulnerability lies on his face. So he does exactly what he had done back then; he threads his fingers through his hair and pulls him forward until the Poison Dragon Slayer's head is pressed to his shoulder in a half-hug.

"Then do me the honour of trusting me one more time."

Cobra's shaky hands fist in the back of his cloak.

"Promise you won't do anything stupid, shitty pops."

 _Don't die on me._

Acnologia doesn't respond.

* * *

"Alright, gremlins," Acnologia sweeps his hard gaze over his assembled family. The Slayers are all battle ready. Acnologia has made sure that they are all carrying at least one backup weapon for when their magic runs out. He can't help but feel nostalgic when he sees Laxus tuck Precht's old bladed chains up his sleeves. He has no doubt that the Lightning Dragon Slayer will be as proficient as the founder of Fairy Tail.

"You all remember where you're going?"

"Gajeel and I are heading North. Our enemy is one that appears to be able to kill without touch by causing internal organs to rupture. Most likely magic is water, so we have the advantage," Laxus doles out.

"Natsu-nii and I shall handle Wahl Icht in the South," Wendy states firmly. Natsu grins, looping an arm around his sister's shoulders. "Bastard is a machine, right? Little bit of heat should melt his metal in no time."

"I'll be against Neinhart in the South as well. Backup for those two," Cobra's gaze is sharp. Knowing. He doesn't say anything, and for that Acnologia is grateful.

"Rogue and I get the war bitch!" Sting shouts. Natsu and Gajeel snicker at the contagious enthusiasm, but silence at their adoptive father's disapproving look.

"I've got August and Jacob."

Serena is serious for the first time in a long time. The expression is unsettling. Serena has always been the joyous optimist. It is Acnologia's job to be the cold, calculating one. It always has been.

"I've will handle Invel," at this, Serena raises an eyebrow. "Acno, isn't he a little light for you? Natsu should-"

"It's because he's an easy target that I'm taking him out first," Acnologia lies. "He is their tactician. Without someone to plan for contingencies, they're doomed to fail. I'm going to ensure that he's dead."

Well, it's a half lie. Having survived four centuries worth of wars, Acnologia is well aware that the planner is the true heart of the operation. No coordination makes for an easy win. So yes, he will kill Invel as promised, but his true target is the person whose side the General never abandons.

After four long centuries, Acnologia is ready to finally end Zeref Dragneel.

"Once you are certain that you have won your battles, and that includes having defeated a majority of the lesser troops, return to the Guild and recuperate. Porlyusica will tell you when you have healed sufficiently enough to re-enter the fight and Mavis will direct you to where you are to go next," Acnologia orders. The group makes an affirmative noise, and he nods sharply.

His lips are suddenly oh-so dry and his tongue is heavy in his mouth. What does he say next? How does he say goodbye to them without letting them know that this goodbye is final? How does he tell the kids he has raised since they were as tall as his knees that he is going to die and he knows it?

But they're looking at him expectantly, so all he does is smirk and say, "I expect my gremlins to put up a hell of a fight. I would hate to have to take away TV rights if one of you loses."

"I kind of want Gajeel to lose now," Sting laughs. "Can you imagine if he got full control of the TV? We'd be watching reality TV for weeks."

"Better than your goddamn choices," Gajeel snarls. "Who would have figured that Sting Eucliffe had a thing for period dramas?"

Sting is affronted. "I will have you know that period dramas are the actual shit."

As the group bickers amongst themselves, the Chaos Dragon finds his smirk slipping until his smile is barely there. This is the last time he will ever see them be so carefree, so he takes it in. The way that Laxus is bracing his arm on Cobra's head as the two second gen's team up to argue with Natsu. The way that Wendy pouts and pokes Gajeel's metal padding with a tiny finger, and the way that he laughs richly at her ire. The way that Sting and Rogue are pulling on each other's hair and fooling around. It's as if it's a regular day at home. As if there is no war. As if, if he closes his eyes, he'll wake up any minute and this will all have been a nightmare.

Except Acnologia has never been one to dream let alone have nightmares. He can't afford to.

"Promise me you'll look out for one another," he interrupts them. Confusion crosses their faces to various degrees. "I won't be there to save your asses out on the field in an emergency. You need to rely on each other for this from here on out."

"Why are you stressing?" Natsu rolls his green eyes. "We haven't needed you to save us in forever. We're all grown here, we can look after ourselves."

 _Then my job here is done._

He can go with peace of mind now, knowing that they don't need him to save them.

"Good luck," he waves them off.

"I'll be out in a minute," Serena tells Sting. "Go on."

The blond waits until they are alone before approaching, and Acnologia knows what he is going to do before he does it.

"Don't die on me," his voice is muffled in the collar of his shirt. His grip around Acnologia's torso is almost bruising, but Serena has always been one for overly tight hugs so he does what he always does and responds in an even tighter embrace.

"Funny, Erik told me the same thing."

"Deep down, he does care," Serena laughs wetly. He sniffs. "I don't even know why I'm crying. I just...feel like something bad is going to happen."

"It's war. People will die," the older male says in a matter-of-fact manner. Facts and reality have always been his coping mechanism. Sticking to the facts has saved him many a time in the past, and he hopes (ironic, he's never been one for hope) that it will come through once more, just long enough for him to ensure his family's safety.

"You are so bleak," Serena looks up. His eyes are soft and so full of affection that he has to bite his tongue to keep himself from telling him the truth.

But he has kept _this_ little secret quiet for a long time, and Acnologia is not going to break that promise of staying mum anytime soon.

"Balances you out," Acnologia jokes.

Serena rolls his eyes and mumbles something about him being incorrigible before grasping the edges of his cloak and yanking him down just low enough that he can press his lips to his.

He can taste the salt from the hybrid's earlier tears alongside his regular mint. Acnologia knows just how to maneuver his jaw to have the blond's heart pick up pace, so he does just that and is rewarded with a little squeak.

"Don't die on me," Acnologia repeats his earlier words. Serena nods and brushes their lips together once more.

"I love you."

His heart cracks just a little.

"Ah."

 _Goodbye._

* * *

It's cold.

Not that _that_ is any surprise given the terrain. Everything has been iced over to suit Invel's magic. Had he not had years of experience dealing with Gray Fullbuster, Acnologia might have had trouble making his way across without slipping.

He wonders how Gray will react to his death.

"Black Dragon of Chaos," Invel greets him.

"Now _that_ is a title I have not heard in a while," Acnologia drawls. Invel's magic is nothing compared to his. How easy it would be to take this one out. But it's always more fun to play with his victims before he kills them, so he stops and balances his weight on one hip lazily.

"Even my enemies deserve to be lauded for their achievements, though yours are certainly more foul than most," the white-haired man wrinkles his nose slightly in disgust.

"What about me disgusts you the most? The manner in which I kill people, or the amount of people I've killed to date for sport?" it's alarming how easy it is to slip back into his former persona. Five more minutes and he may even begin to spout ancient Fiorian dialects.

"Both," Invel admits. "My main...issue is your family. How is it that someone like you managed to lie to yourself so much that you ever believed that you were capable of raising functional children?"

 _That_ has his blood boiling. He doesn't care for the insult directed at him. Being called defunct is a compliment next to his many titles. It's the fact that this wintery bastard dares to even speak of his gremlins like he knows them that causes his teeth to grind together loudly.

"Careful, Invel," a feather-soft voice drifts from a nearby snowbank. "One of his children happens to be my brother."

"My apologies, Emperor Zeref."

"Emperor Zeref?" Acnologia scoffs. He walks past Invel, ignoring his demands that he stay away from the Black Wizard, and halts at the base of the pile of snow. "You take over a continent that has been established long before your birth and declare yourself the ruler despite there being legitimate heirs? Your narcissism knows no bounds."

"And who decides who is worthy of ruling a nation, Acnologia? Certainly not you, who has a long history of overthrowing kings for their land and leaving it in ruin. I have brought prosperity upon the people of Alvarez," Zeref says. He's seated comfortably with his legs crossed and is dressed in layers and layers of flowing fabric. It's an outdated style from their youth.

"You with your contradiction curse? You don't love the land, Zeref, otherwise we would have been drowning in the dead bodies of the citizens," Acnologia smirks when he sees the mage's jaw clench almost imperceptibly. He's found a sore spot and will be damned if he doesn't press it harder.

"After all, that's what happened to Mavis."

The harbinger of chaos doesn't flinch as a wave of thick black magic radiates from his infuriated enemy. He's an immortal, after all, so all he has to do is dig his feet into the ground to avoid being pushed back by the force of it all. He hears a shallow gasp and the thud of a body hitting the snow behind him, and raises an eyebrow at his now seething enemy.

"I didn't realize you held such affection for your General. Did he know you loved him?"

"I liked him slightly better than most," Zeref hisses. "But love? No. My curse has grown in strength."

"Wonderful," Acnologia announces dryly. "Would you like me to star that accomplishment on the growth chart for you? Oh, pardon me, I forgot. You've not grown at all in the past four centuries."

Zeref laughs, sliding down the snowbank as it melts. With the casters death, the magic is no longer sustained so the snow and ice gives way to the brown earth and dead plants. Whether the plants are dead from Zeref's curse or from being exposed to blistering cold temperatures is up for debate. Acnologia's hand flies back to grasp the hilt of his sword, eyeing Zeref as he approaches. Nothing would happen to Zeref if he ran him through, but he would certainly be satisfied and Acnologia does enjoy acting on base pleasures.

"Taking care of these kids really has turned you soft, Acnologia," he muses. "A century ago you wouldn't have wasted so much time chit-chatting. Tell me, do you let them call you father?"

"Papa," and he can't help but let a little bit of pride leak into his voice at the admission. He is their father, even if he pretends to dislike them and even if he's not necessarily been the most attentive parent. He's the one who has raised them from the time they were barely able to run without tripping to the powerful mages that they all are now, and he is proud.

Zeref's face slips up in composure slightly. "Even Natsu?"

"Natsu was the first to call me that. The others followed his lead."

Silence befalls them. Zeref has a far-away look in his eyes, as if thinking about his own father, and Acnologia is consumed with guilt. Not for Zeref, no, but for Natsu. Goddamn Natsu with the obnoxious pink hair and cheeky smile and his propensity for destroying the house as a whole and eating out the fridge if it's not padlocked and his ability to power through any situation and…

He's going to miss Natsu.

"You know what killing me will do, right?"

Acnologia snaps.

"Yes, I do. What the fuck is wrong with you? You brought him back to life to, what, kill him all over again? So you could die together once he was old enough? Is this some sick suicide pact he doesn't know he's signed by simply living?"

"I love my brother," Zeref says, more to himself than to Acnologia. His eyes are crazed, now. Red. They're always red when he's fallen over the line of crazy. "I love my brother, which is why I tied our life forces together. I want him to kill me. But if I die then nobody will be left to protect him, so he has to come with me. He has to."

"I've done a pretty damn good job of raising him without your help," Acnologia snarls. "You're the one who let him die in that fucking fire."

Zeref's fist lands in his stomach and sends him sprawling several feet back. Acnologia steadies himself, one hand nursing his bruised torso and the other swirling with dark magic. It's been far too long since he's had an opponent that warrants the use of his more concentrated magic, but he finds no joy in it.

He has a mission to complete.

"You know nothing," Zeref snarls. "Nothing!"

Acnologia pauses a foot away. He circles the Black Wizard, who refuses to break eye-contact with him. The heels of his feet dig into the ground harshly enough to leave indents.

"It was your fault, wasn't it? You were practicing magic in your room. You burned down your house with your family in it, and then you brought your five year old brother back to life. To what end? To kill him all over again?"

"Your lover stole him from me!" he roars. "Anna Heartfilia took what was mine! I had no choice but to bind our lives! I needed to make sure he was okay! Natsu is mine! My brother!"

"He's my son!" Acnologia finally stops. The circle he's created around Zeref glows dimly, highlighting the smaller male's face eerily. "He's my goddamn son and I'm gonna do what you failed to do and protect him."

"You can't kill me. You'll kill him."

"Which is why I'm killing myself."

Everything goes silent save for the whistling of the wind.

"What will that accomplish?" the pale man, boy, really, asks. His voice is low, devoid of the hostility and manic pitch from before. Instead, there's a lilt of curiousity. Maybe even hope. Acnologia jerks his head towards his feet, indicating the glowing circle.

"Igneel spent a lot of time in Natsu developing the antibodies to keep him from becoming a dragon. That isn't a process that requires much thought after a while, so he decided to put his time to good use and figure out how to destroy your curse," Acnologia pauses, gauging his opponent's reaction. When Zeref's face remains blank, he continues. "You're familiar with the first of the magical energy theories, correct?"

"Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Caster types create their magic through a conversion process of their own stored energy and holder types merely channel their energy through a medium. All energy is replenished by ethernano in the air."

"Ever the student, I see. Nevertheless, Igneel realized that your magic link to Natsu couldn't be destroyed because of this, but it could be transferred. Energy isn't being created nor destroyed."

 _The land is barren of all life, save for the immortal approaching the center of the largest of all the craters. His light blue-grey hair is matted with blood and grime, and his electrifying tattoos glow dully, serving as his only guiding light in the pitch black of the night._

" _You got weak in your old age, Igneel," he murmurs to the scales littering the ground. "Letting the Underworld King of all people kill you. I'm offended I ever even considered you a viable enemy."_

 _Acnologia sighs, staring up at the dark sky. The stars are not present for once._

" _What is it that you called me here for, old man…? I've not got the ability to use Milky Way like I used to."_

 _He sighs again and begins to scope the area. Igneel's body had vanished in a glowing golden shower, leaving behind nothing but the blood he had spilt and the scales he had shed._

 _He knows Natsu will be back to collect whatever he can of his first father, so he avoids destroying anything in his investigation._

" _You aggravate me," he complains, kicking about the dirt. "How is it that someone as flashy as you could have ever managed managed to hide something from me?"_

 _He's ready to give up when he spots it in the epicenter of the disaster._

 _A book._

 _He picks it up, gingerly brushing the dirt off the cover. There's no name written on the front, so he's sure that it's not a Book of Tartarus. There's nothing to mark it as special, really. It looks an awful lot like one of the old medical texts Wendy hoards. Acnologia flips it open to the first page and he's almost ashamed to admit that it takes him five minutes to realize that he's not staring at scribbles, but rather extremely primitive Fiorian script._

" _You dramatic old dragon," he grumbles, tracing the faded letters. "Giving me a headache from beyond the grave…"_

 _It doesn't take him long to translate the first page._

 _ **Acnologia,**_

 _ **I am not going to waste time.**_

 _ **Do not kill Zeref Dragneel.**_

 _ **Allow me to amend that statement: do not kill Zeref Dragneel until you have transferred the curse he has placed on Natsu to yourself. It is organic link based. You should know what this means.**_

 _ **You were always the brightest pupil.**_

 _ **You are about to fight your final war.**_

 _ **Father to father, it is our duty to ensure that our brats live on to see tomorrow, even if it means we don't.**_

 _ **Thank you for raising Natsu into the man he is today. I couldn't be more proud of him.**_

 _ **Igneel.**_

 _Acnologia doesn't know exactly when he had dropped to his knees, but he's grateful for the lowering of the center of gravity because he's sure he's ready to topple over. White flashes dance in his vision, and his stomach sinks as he flips through the book and the diagrams get more and more complicated._

" _Dammit, Igneel…" he snaps the tome shut._

" _He can't lose the both of us so quickly."_

"It was easy applying the magic to myself," Acnologia explains, unfastening the clasp on his cloak. The heavy cloth falls to the ground with a soft whump, and for the first time since his fight with Mard Geer, his back is exposed to the light of day.

His signature tattoos are missing from his back, replaced by a magic circle of runes. The etchings are darker than his already dark skin tone, and they shine when the sun's rays hit them right. When he moves, they look ready to rip open and pour out blood.

But it's been close to a year since he burned the marks into his skin. They have healed.

"Interesting," Zeref whispers, eyeing the runes with a scholarly eye. "You used an inversion key."

"I didn't pay much attention to the finer details," Acnologia admits. "But there is the inversion key and also the resistor link. The hardest part of this was inking Natsu. He tosses in his sleep."

Zeref smiles faintly. "He was always a fussy sleeper. Two lullabies-"

"And a kiss to the forehead," he finishes for him.

There's a moment of understanding between them. A moment where they both can see the depths of their care for the Fire Dragon Slayer.

Natsu is loved.

"So...you can kill me? Just like that? Without hurting Natsu?"

"Just like that," Acnologia confirms. It scares him how easy it is to talk about this. How easy it is to discuss his death with the man he's sought to kill for so long, as if they're signing a twisted suicide pact.

Perhaps it's less a suicide pact and more a bargain.

 _My life for his. Our lives for his._

He knows Natsu will never forgive him. He'll curse him out and call him a shitty dad and maybe even skip the funeral to mope on his own, but so long as he's breathing and waking up unharmed, Acnologia can care less.

That's a lie.

He cares about his children's opinions of him too much to ever let them change for the worse.

"Kill me," Zeref breathes eagerly. His eyes, black now, are alight with joy. Tears well in their corners and drip down his face. Acnologia recognizes that countenance. It's one of a man who has lived too long, seen too much, and has tried desperately to be put to rest without avail.

He sees it in the mirror every day.

"Ah," it takes all of his willpower to cross the distance between them. His legs protest, weighing him down. His body betrays him.

He doesn't want to die.

He doesn't want to die, but he has to, so he forces himself to move steadily. Every step causes his breathing to accelerate, and his vision to tunnel.

 _I don't want to die._

 _Natsu will live._

 _I don't want to die._

 _The kids will live._

 _I don't want to die._

 _They're old enough to go on without you._

 _I don't want to die._

 _Serena can look after them._

 _I don't want to die._

 _Liar._

"I don't want to die."

"You don't want Natsu to die, either," Zeref says. There's barely an inch of space between them. Acnologia knows exactly where to strike to make it quick and painless (he's selfish for wanting it to be over quickly), but he finds himself locating the areas that will lead to a slow death (he's selfish for wanting to live a little longer).

"Tell me about them, first. The kids."

"Natsu is energetic. He gets along best with Sting. Rogue is shy and prefers Wendy's company. Laxus and Cobra are as thick as thieves, and Gajeel just hovers around. They'll eat you out of your house if you don't padlock the kitchen. They like to build pillow forts and most of the time they don't even use their assigned rooms. They're powerful Slayers. Intelligent in their own ways. They don't use that intelligence productively, though. No, they like to use it to bother me. They're annoying shits who deplete my wallet and frankly it'll be nice to lump that headache on someone else."

"And yet you don't want to die, and you're willing to kill yourself to see that they stay safe."

"...ah."

The mania is gone from Zeref's eyes, replaced by the gentle and intelligent stare he remembers from when the boy was a youth. For a second, Acnologia feels like they're back four hundred years ago; he's one of the venerated scholars of the first magical research institutions, and Zeref is the ten-year-old boy genius with plans too grand for their time.

"Yuriy's sword," the Black Wizard notes. "You kept it?"

"Fought my first war for Fairy Tail with it, might as well use it in my last," the sword makes a loud scraping sound as it's pulled out of its sheath. Acnologia's arm is reared back as he aims for the torso. His lips are dry and his hand trembles.

He's not ready.

"Last words?"

"Dramatic as always. But...thank you, Professor."

"Don't call me that," Acnologia swings forward and the sword embeds itself in his former student's stomach.

Zeref's eyes widen and a strangled gasp escaped his mouth. Acnologia feels his own torso burn in response. Coppery blood bubbles up his throat but he swallows it down and forces the sword upwards. The runes on his back itch as they unwind from the circle and shoot down his arms in a searing path for Zeref's, wrapping around his wrist.

A blinding flash later, and the boy drops back, the sword pinning him to the ground. Acnologia leans on the weapon, shaking violently. He barely has the energy to stand. Breaths escape him wetly, and he's sure his whole mouth is red.

Zeref is smiling peacefully.

That's it, then? Four centuries of strife, bloodshed, and war over the death of this man, and all it takes are some old runes and a sword through the chest?

A part of him feels cheated, but mostly he's relieved that it's all over.

Finally. Finally, Zeref Dragneel is no longer a threat to his family. He can't hurt them anymore. He can never threaten to hurt them anymore.

"Thank you."

"I'll tell them where your body is," Acnologia manages to say. "You...deserve a cremation, at the least."

"Afraid...I'll be...resurrected?

"Yes."

"Ah...where are you...where are you going now?"

"Where it all began."

Zeref laughs, and the motion soon turns into vicious hacks.

"You...noticed it...too?"

"Gate's last opening sight...is less than a mile away."

"Can you make it?"

"I can try."

As he begins the first of his many painful steps, a cold hand latches around his ankle, freezing him.

"Tell...Natsu...I love him."

"Hm."

The grip tightens. "Please don't leave me alone...just yet."

"The second you die...I do too. No time to waste."

The hand falls down.

"Goodbye, Acnologia."

"Goodbye, Zeref."

* * *

His senses have dulled.

The grass in front of him fades in and out of sight, and even when it is visible it's blurry at best. His breathing is laboured and he barely make out anything scent-wise save for the blood that cakes his dry lips. He's too cold to move. Too cold to feel.

He can still think, though, and he's not sure if he's grateful for that.

Acnologia wonders what it will be like when they find his body. _If_ they find his body, a part of him whispers, but he has no doubt that his gremlins will sniff him out eventually.

He knows most of them will cry. Rogue will probably shut down like he usually does and help Sting before processing his own grief. Laxus and Cobra won't cry, he knows this for sure. They're the eldest. In their minds, they have to be strong for the others. Gajeel...he worries for him the most. Natsu, Wendy, and Sting will bawl like there's no tomorrow, but Gajeel will either break down with them or close himself off until somebody forces him out of his funk.

Normally that role falls to Acnologia, so he prays for a break down.

He supposes this is some divine retribution for what he's done in the past. Decades spent slaughtering people like animals with a brief period of reform isn't enough to atone for his sins. His death is slow and painful, as if he's undergoing the same pain he'd inflicted on others.

He's starting to sound like Jellal, so Acnologia pushes those thoughts aside and instead tries to remember why exactly he had sacrificed himself.

He's a selfish creature, after all, and if it serves no gain to him then there's no point to doing it.

Ah, yes.

The kids.

The shitty little brats that had all but been thrown into his lap over ten years ago. The first five were sudden and against his will, and the last two were most definitely of his own volition (though he lies and says it was mostly to keep them all together), and oddly enough he knows that if he had to do it again, he would.

He'll miss them. He'll miss the fights, the reparations, the 3 AM snack runs, and the early morning fights for shower rights. He'll miss the endless additions to the house and the joy derived from tearing down the divided walls.

He'll miss the noise and the laughter and the joy that he can't remember experiencing in all the years of his life.

He clings tightly to those memories, replaying them on a loop as his breaths become shallower and his hands become colder.

If he tries hard enough, Acnologia can remember what they all smell like. Their scents are ingrained into his brain, seared into his nose, and he can taste them on his tongue it's so thick.

He pauses and breathes in as deeply as he can.

They're here.

It's not just his imagination, then.

"Papa!" Wendy is the first to shriek when she lays her eyes on him. He's sure he's a sight, propped up against a tree and shirtless, with his arms and legs sprawled out in his lethargy. He forced his blue eyes open and is met with a myriad of colours: blue, pink, two heads of black, three blonde, one maroon…

They're all here.

"Gremlins," he croaks. "Serena."

"What the fuck, pops?" Laxus hisses. His heavy hand joins Wendy's in their probing search for the source of his fatal injury. "You said your kill would be easy!"

"Acno?" Serena's voice is barely a whimper. "W...what…?"

Acnologia's eyes flick over to Cobra, who is staring directly back at him. His mouth is parted just slightly, sole eye as wide as can be.

He's heard.

"You killed Zeref."

There's silence before everybody bursts out with questions.

"What the fuck, papa?"

"You said you were just gonna get Invel!"

"Why didn't you call for backup?!"

"He's immortal!"

Acnologia groans. It's too loud. He just wants quiet. Five minutes of quiet so he can figure it out himself…

"You know he's your brother, Natsu," he addresses his shell-shocked son. "He...did something, and your life force was directly connected to his. If he died, so would you."

The Chaos Dragon shoots Cobra a decidedly warning glare. He won't have Natsu finding out about to circumstances if his existence just yet. Not ever, if he can help it.

 _This is your secret to take to the grave._

Cobra nods imperceptibly.

With that reassurance in mind, Acnologia turns back to Natsu. "Igneel knew this. Left me a book telling me how to kill him."

"I can fix you," Wendy mumbles. Her hands glow mint-green as she brings them up to his torso, and Acnologia surprises both himself and the group when his hand shoots up to stop her - his surprise is more from the fact that he has enough energy to move than anything.

"Don't," he snaps. "If you heal me, you heal him."

Natsu's face goes bone-white.

"You...you killed him...and you're dying...so…"

"You took Natsu's curse on yourself?" Rogue whispers. The Shadow Dragon Slayer looks worse for wear, with his arm bound tightly in a makeshift cast and his skin paler than it usually is. Acnologia nods slightly. It hurts to move his neck. It's too stiff.

"Why?" Sting screeches. Tears are already streaking down his face, cutting through the dirt that cakes his cheeks. After Wendy, Sting is the one who cries the easiest. Sting was the one who always needed the most comforting as a child. Oh, he tries to cover it up with loud declarations of his prowess and sheer perfection, but Acnologia knows better.

Sting is the most vulnerable and sensitive of his gremlins.

"Because Natsu shouldn't have to die for his brother's idiocy," he replies. Laxus scoffs. The Lightning Dragon Slayer has his jaw set and eyes steeled. His beefy arms cross over his chest, tucked in securely so he can hide how he's shaking.

Laxus didn't cry when he thought Cobra had been killed. There's no reason he'll weep for Acnologia.

"And you do?" the blond challenges.

"Frankly, yes. Do you have any idea how old I am? Do you have any idea what I've done? How many people I've killed?"

"That doesn't mean you deserve to die!" Wendy screams. She launches herself into her father's chest, grasping at him desperately. Acnologia bites back the yelp that threatens to exit his mouth. Cobra winces for him. Try hard as he might, Acnologia can't hold up his mental barrier anymore. He can lie to the others, but he can't lie to Cobra.

He hears everything.

"It doesn't mean I deserve to live, either," he says. He finds enough energy in himself to press his hand to the back of her head in a weak semblance of a hug. Wendy's so small in his arms. So small he's afraid she'll break if he's not around to keep her safe.

"You can't fucking leave us," Gajeel hisses. His sharp teeth are bared and his chest heaves in his ire. Anger is the predominant emotion in him, but beyond the harshness of his red eyes, Acnologia can see fear. Sadness. Panic.

Break down it is.

"A little late for that," he quips dryly.

"Quit fucking around, you shitty pops! You promised me you wouldn't leave us!"

"I said I wouldn't leave until you were ready to be alone. You told me you were ready. You didn't need me, and that you could look after each other. That means you don't need me."

Gajeel half-laughs, half-sobs, slamming his iron-coated knuckles into the grassy ground. His fist slackens, causing his wrist to bend inwards. The movement follows across his whole body, and Gajeel is slumped forward with his head pressed against the dirt soon after. Tremors wrack his large frame, but Acnologia knows that he will let no tears fall.

He's too strong for that.

"You can't leave us," his voice is a broken record, repeating the same phrase over and over again.

"Why?" Natsu finally whimpers. "Why would you-?"

"You're my son," Acnologia pauses, licking his bloody lips. "And it's my duty to make sure you live on to see tomorrow, even if I don't."

"It's my fault, then. It's my fault you're dying. You...you wouldn't be dying if I wasn't cursed. You and Igneel both...I shouldn't have been born. This wouldn't have happened if I had never been born!"

Cobra smacks him across the head. There's a frown on his lips, but that's not a surprise. When is Cobra ever not frowning?

"Stop acting like a brat, Natsu. He did all this because he loves you. Igneel did it because he loved you. So shut the fuck up for once and just…"

"Papa…" Sting sniffs. The heels of his glove-covered palms are rammed into his eyes, furiously rubbing at his tears. "Papa...don't...don't leave us…"

"Acno."

Shit.

Serena.

Serena - his extravagant, over-the-top, flamboyant, exuberant, always happy Serena - speaks so quietly that Acnologia has to strain his ears to hear him. Blue eyes (always sparkling like the vast ocean, lighter than the sky and with more depth than both combined) well with unshed tears, which dangle on his eyelashes, ready to fall and sully his face.

"Acno…" his voice isn't meant to be so small. His voice isn't meant to be so sad and scared. It's supposed to be happy and full of laughter. Acnologia is meant to be the morose one with a voice like thunder and mood like rain, and Serena is the bright light and rainbows that follow after.

 _Nothing_ is the way it's supposed to be.

"Serena," he murmurs. His free hand twitches. He can barely lift it high enough to indicate that he shuffle over, but Serena has always known what he's wanted before he's made it clear, so the blond is there, wrapped around him and breathing down his neck hotly, in less than a second after.

"Why?" it's the same question, over and over again, and the more it's repeated, the more Acnologia finds himself thinking _I don't know._

"Because, you dumbass," Acnologia presses his lips to the crown of his lover's head. "It's my job to keep you all safe."

 _Because I love you._

 _Because I love them._

 _Because you're all my only family._

 _Because you all made me happier in less than fifteen years than I've ever been in over four hundred._

Cobra chokes.

He can hear everything, can't he?

"Look," Acnologia smooths down Wendy's hair and sweeps his cool eyes over his gremlins. They're all a mess of tears and gritted teeth and regrets and the sense of abandonment runs strong in them. He can't blame them. This will be the third time their parent-figure will have died on them. If they can never trust anyone after this, then it will be his fault and his burden to bear in whatever shitty afterlife he receives.

"I don't regret this. I don't regret doing any of this. I don't regret sacrificing myself for you, Natsu. For any of you, I would have done the same. I've lived a long life. Raised a couple brats into older, better brats. I got to love twice. Some people don't even get that once. If I could do this all over again in the exact same way, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"Besides," he adds lightly. "It'll be nice to go to sleep and wake up on my own terms for once. You realize that ever since I got you goddamn gremlins I've woken up at 7 AM nearly every day since? I've got about a decade and a half's worth of rest to catch up on."

Gajeel snorts, a humourless noise, but it's better than nothing.

"Do me a favour, all of you." Eight sets of ears perk up.

"Visit my grave often. Actually, make sure my grave is as ostentatious as it gets. I've seen the rise and fall of civilization. The least I deserve is a huge statue in my honour. Don't put me in a graveyard, that's just creepy. Tell me everything that goes on in the Guild after I'm gone, and collect on my bets. I've got several in place still."

"Wendy," his youngest daughter lifts her head from his chest. Her face is red and she's yet to stop crying. He softens his eyes as much as he can as he rubs her head affectionately. "Make sure you don't exhaust yourself studying to become a doctor. And do what Laxus and Cobra say to do, ignore everyone else."

"Fuck off, old man," Gajeel says. He's not crying, but his lower lip is drawn into his mouth to keep it from wobbling. "You know I'm the only reliable one around here."

"Says the one who let the kitchen burn down when babysitting us because he fell asleep," Rogue finally inputs. His silence has been spent holding onto Sting tightly. The blond has yet to cease sobbing, and goddamn if every sniffle doesn't drive a stake down Acnologia's throat.

He pretends not to care, but he hates it when they cry.

"You all be good to your mom," the Chaos Dragon Slayer jokes, pulling Serena just a little bit closer. Serena presses his face into his neck more forcefully, as if trying to meld the two together. "He's fucking useless without me. For the love of all that's holy, don't let him cook dinner for any of you, you remember what happened last time."

Is this a thing that happens when death is not two feet away? You make jokes? Acnologia has never shown so much levity in one go in his life. Perhaps this is his last attempt at consoling them. Perhaps it's an apology. Perhaps this is just him trying to tell them he loves them in his own terrible way.

Why is it so hard?

Why can't he say it?

It's three words. Three little words that can barely begin to express how much he cares for them. The seven little brats he swore he would hold at arm's length all those years ago. The seven little brats he had reluctantly become a father to. The seven little brats who had redefined everything he had ever believed in with their black-and-white worldview and showed him what _family_ really was.

God, he was going to miss them.

Carefully, Acnologia looks up at Cobra, who he knows has been listening to everything running through his tumultuous soul since the beginning.

His indigo eye is so wide it's amazing it's still in place. His breathing is shallow and jerkish, stuttering and stopping at random intervals. He knows. Cobra can feel just what Acnologia is going through. From now until forever, Cobra will be the only one to have ever known exactly how Acnologia felt in his final moments.

Acnologia's lips curl up just a little and he winks at him.

 _Look after them for me, Erik._

The Poison Dragon Slayer bows his head.

Acnologia knows that until the day he dies, Cobra will never let any harm befall the Slayers. Cobra is many things, but above all else, he is a man who upholds his promises to others.

"Serena," the man looks up. He's still in shock. "Sorry for lying to you."

"I hate you," he whispers.

Acnologia grins weakly. "Good. You deserve better."

Suddenly, Serena's lips are on his with a bruising intensity. His mouth shakes as it moulds to his, desperately trying to burn this last kiss into memory. Acnologia is as forceful as he can get. This is the last time he will ever kiss him. The last time he will ever feel his heart pound furiously and his chest flutter with the pleasure and joy that he gets from being in any contact with his lover.

He wishes he remembered how to cry.

"I love you," Serena gasps, pulling away. "I love you. I.."

"Ah."

No.

That's wrong.

"Serena?"

"Yes?"

"I love you, too."

"Gremlins," he addresses them. His voice is gentle now. He can delude himself into thinking that it's because it's almost time and he's got no energy left, but deep down...deep down it's because he realizes there's no use in pretending he doesn't care.

Because he does.

He cares so much it's killing him.

"I love you. All of you. You're the best and worst things to have ever happened to me."

"You're the best thing to have happened to us, papa," Sting sniffs. "I...we wouldn't…"

"If any of you cry at my funeral, I'll come back and kill you all," Acnologia stares at Natsu. "And I'll put _you_ in the punishment box. I don't care how big you are, you hear me? Big smiles and bright colours."

"I'm too old for the punishment box," he protests half-heartedly. Acnologia feels the pain in his chest subside just a little. He's fine. He'll live on. They all will.

They'll laugh until they cry, and cry until they can laugh again. It's a never-ending cycle of joy and sadness and it's a beautiful and broken system.

Acnologia can't cry, so he settles for tipping his head back up to the sky and finally letting himself smile so wide that he's sure his dimples are showing.

"It's warm…"

"Papa?"

"Acno?"

"H-hey! Papa, wait, no-!"

"Wake the fuck up, shitty pops, this ain't funny!"

" _Papa!_ "

.

.

.

.

.

 _Acnologia_

 _X390-X795_

 _Chaos Dragon Slayer, Father, Lover_

" _The measure of a man's heart lies in what he is willing to sacrifice for his family."_

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm so bad at angst why did I even do this I regret everything in life.

Well, good news is, next chapters of One Missed Call and Chaos Theory are in the works.

*confetti*

-Touko


End file.
